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Background/Aims: People may have symptoms of multiple disorders at the same time. We aimed to determine prevalence and risk factors for overlaps between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in a Korean population. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was performed on 1,688 randomly selected Korean subjects. Data on 1,443 subjects could be analyzed. Dyspepsia and IBS were diagnosed using modified Rome II criteria. Results: The prevalences of GERD, dyspepsia and IBS were 8.5, 9.5 and 9.6%. Overlaps between GERD and dyspepsia, GERD and IBS, and dyspepsia and IBS were observed in 2.3 (95% CI 1.4–3.0), 2.0 (95% CI 1.2–2.6%) and 1.3% (95% CI 0.6–1.8%) of the population. 27 and 24% of GERD subjects suffered from dyspepsia and IBS. 24 and 14% of dyspeptic subjects had GERD and IBS. 21 and 14% of IBS subjects had GERD and dyspepsia. Anxiety was significantly associated with GERD overlap (OR 2.73, 95% CI 1.13–6.57), dyspepsia overlap (OR 3.19, 95% CI 1.33–7.63) and IBS overlap (OR 4.92, 95% CI 2.04–11.84), compared with GERD alone, dyspepsia alone and IBS alone. Conclusions: Overlaps between GERD, dyspepsia, and IBS are common in the general population. These overlaps occur predominantly in individuals with anxiety.

ObjectiveThe objectives of this study were to develop a coronary heart disease (CHD) risk model among the Korean Heart Study (KHS) population and compare it with the Framingham CHD risk score.DesignA prospective cohort study within a national insurance system.Setting18 health promotion centres nationwide between 1996 and 2001 in Korea.Participants268 315 Koreans between the ages of 30 and 74 years without CHD at baseline.Outcome measureNon-fatal or fatal CHD events between 1997 and 2011. During an 11.6-year median follow-up, 2596 CHD events (1903 non-fatal and 693 fatal) occurred in the cohort. The optimal CHD model was created by adding high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol and triglycerides to the basic CHD model, evaluating using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and continuous net reclassification index (NRI).ResultsThe optimal CHD models for men and women included HDL-cholesterol (NRI=0.284) and triglycerides (NRI=0.207) from the basic CHD model, respectively. The discrimination using the CHD model in the Korean cohort was high: the areas under ROC were 0.764 (95% CI 0.752 to 0.774) for men and 0.815 (95% CI 0.795 to 0.835) for women. The Framingham risk function predicted 3–6 times as many CHD events than observed. Recalibration of the Framingham function using the mean values of risk factors and mean CHD incidence rates of the KHS cohort substantially improved the performance of the Framingham functions in the KHS cohort.ConclusionsThe present study provides the first evidence that the Framingham risk function overestimates the risk of CHD in the Korean population where CHD incidence is low. The Korean CHD risk model is well-calculated alternations which can be used to predict an individual's risk of CHD and provides a useful guide to identify the groups at high risk for CHD among Koreans.

The purpose of this survey was to obtain information on the prevalence, costs, and patterns of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in a general population in the Republic of Korea. In 2006, we conducted nationwide and population-weighted personal interviews with 6,021 adults ranging from 30 to 69 yr of age; the final sample consisted of 3,000 people with a 49.8% response rate. In addition to their general socio-demographics, the respondents were asked about their use of CAM during the previous 12-month period, costs, sources of information, and reasons for use. The prevalence of use overall was 74.8%, while biologically based CAM therapies were the most likely type of use (65.4%). The median annual out-of-pocket expenditures for CAM therapies was about US$203. The primary reason for using CAM was for disease prevention and health promotion (78.8%). The main source of advice about CAM therapies use was most likely to be from family and friends (66.9%). Our study suggests that CAM use has been and continues to be very popular in South Korea. Conventional western medical doctors and governments should obtain more evidence and become more interested in CAM therapies.

These findings indicate that uric acid level is not an independent risk factor for death from cancer, ASCVD or all causes.